Sedgwick neighborhood robber sentenced to long state prison term

Syracuse, NY - A Monroe County man was sentenced today to serve 25 to 30 years in state prison for a series of crimes authorities said terrorized the Sedgwick neighborhood in Syracuse last year.

Mario Clark, 41, of Brockport, apologized in court this morning for his crimes.

While none of the victims was physically injured, state Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti noted the three who testified at Clark's trial last month clearly were "really scared to death" by his conduct.

Clark was found guilt Jan. 27 of two counts each of second-degree burglary and third-degree robbery.

One set of charges stemmed from an incident on Feb. 12, 2011, in which Clark accosted and robbed a man in the victim's Clifton Place home after asking to come in to use the bathroom.

The other set of charges stemmed from an incident May 20 in which Clark accosted and robbed a woman in her Brattle Road home after asking for a drink of water.

Brunetti sentenced Clark to serve 10 years in prison for each of the burglary charges and 2 1/2 to five years for each of the robbery counts. The judge then ordered all four of those sentences to be served consecutively, adding up to a total penalty of 25 to 30 years behind bars for Clark.

Clark then pleaded guilty today to a third set of burglary and robbery charges stemming from a second May 20 incident in which a Sedgwick Drive resident was accosted and robbed in his home.

Brunetti imposed a five-year penalty for that crime to be served at the same time instead of consecutively.

Authorities said Clark had done odd jobs for the victims before returning to the neighborhood to rob them.

Assistant District Attorney Kari Arnold asked Brunetti to sentence Clark to serve up to life in state prison as a persistent felony offender because of his lengthy criminal history.

Arnold said Clark's criminal history appeared to become more violent with time. And she said the probation department pre-sentence report indicated he was a high likelihood to offend again in the future.

But the judge rejected that persistent felony offender request, noting the consecutive penalties he was planning to impose amounted to an adequate sentence.

Defense lawyer Aurora Flores argued imposing maximum consecutive penalties on Clark would be unfairly harsh. She said he had owned up to his responsibility for the crimes and had been trying to address in jail the substance abuse problems that have driven his criminal career.

She said none of the people for whom Clark did odd jobs ever complained about the quality of his work. And she said the situation easily could have been worse if it had been Clark's intent to hurt anyone during the incidents.

While the penalty imposed by Brunetti was lengthy, it was not the maximum.

Clark could have faced a total of 37 to 44 years for the two incidents that led to the trial convictions.

He has prior convictions in Erie County and Buffalo for robbery, criminal possession of stolen property and petit larceny, officials said when he was arrested in the crime spree here last year.